A Tory MP is calling for Bristol to lose one of its maternity units and for it to be relocated so women in Weston-super-Mare can give birth locally.

GPs referred 1,316 expectant women in the resort onto Weston General Hospital but only 170 of those went on to have their child in the North Somerset town – well below the 500 needed to provide a “financially and clinically viable and sustainable” maternity service, according to NHS guidelines. Southmead and St Michael's each handle more than 5,000 births per year.

John Penrose, the Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare, says he has evidence that shows more mothers-to-be would choose to give birth at Ashcombe Birth Centre in Weston General Hospital if it had the same range of services – such as caesarean deliveries – as found in Bristol.

The former minister has collected evidence from constituents who told him they felt forced to make the journey to Bristol for their baby’s birth in order to guarantee peace of mind if anything went wrong.

John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare

In Bristol, there are a number of centres where women can go to give birth. North Bristol NHS Trust runs three, two of which are based in Southmead Hospital, while University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust runs the maternity service at St Michael’s Hospital.

Mr Penrose said it was “weird” that Bristol had such a concentration of resources.

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He said that, without a change, Weston General Hospital was “trapped in a self-fulfilling downward spiral”, as new mums were unlikely to choose to give birth there if they feared any complications.

“We have two fully-equipped, very impressive birth units up in the two Bristol teaching hospitals, and they are only a few miles apart,” Mr Penrose told The Breeze radio station.

“And then there’s this small unit in Weston, which is miles away and has many fewer facilities and would be a great deal cheaper to equip than an expensive, crowded teaching hospital site up in Bristol.

St Michael’s Hospital contains one of four maternity centres in Bristol

“So I’m asking, have they looked at whether those facilities could be provided perhaps cheaper and more conveniently, but just as effectively, in Weston – or is just some accident of history that it is all up in Bristol?

“It does seem a bit weird to have both the two fully-equipped centres just a couple of miles apart, which means everyone has to travel to the medicine rather than the medicine being available near where the patients are.”

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Mr Penrose also said he thought it was “unfair” that pregnant women in North Somerset had to travel further than their counterparts in Bristol or South Gloucestershire.

A spokesman for the CCG confirmed that Ms Ross had replied to Mr Penrose’s letter but said the correspondence was “private”.

The CCG said the ‘Healthy Weston’ plan would look to address “the long-term future of a number of services at the hospital, including maternity”.

It recognised that currently levels of women choosing to have their babies at Weston Hospital was “low”.

“We are aware that maternity services comprise more than delivering babies and the work that is now being undertaken will look at the complete package of services and how these can be best delivered to local women in future,” said the spokesman.

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“We are therefore working with neighbouring hospitals in Bristol and Somerset to look at how maternity services can best be provided to women in Weston and the surrounding areas in the future that are both sustainable for the long term and make best use of NHS resources, and will be identifying the options available”

At the last inspection in July 2017, the Care Quality Commission rated maternity and gynaecology services at Weston Hospital as ‘good’.